Raking Over The Coals
by Liam the lemming
Summary: Following Dave's split from Blaine, Kurt seeks him out to make sure he's okay... and discovers he's far from okay himself.
1. Choking On The Ashes

_**Story**__: Raking Over The Coals  
__**Chapter**__: Choking On The Ashes  
__**Author**__: Liam the lemming  
__**Rating**__: T (for the few uses of expletives)  
__**Warnings**__: a few mild expletives. No slash, sorry. Um. I hope you like plot? :)  
__**Word count**__: 3130  
__**Disclaimer**__: I don't own Glee or anything related to it.  
__**Chapter summary**__: Kurt looks for Dave at Scandals to see if he's okay after losing Blaine._

_A/N: no, it's not the Perfect Symmetry AU for a change. But once this story took root, it wouldn't go away. It demanded a telling, and hopefully I'm up to the job. :) It's only canon up to the episode where Blaine and Dave broke up, so I had to write it quick before canon took a giant crap all over it._

_A/N 2: slight post-publish tweak to correct the name of one of Dave's exes - the show actually names him as Nelson, and it bugged me that I got that wrong. Doh!_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Choking On The Ashes**

He was here. Kurt somehow expected that. Much better dressed than when he'd first crossed paths with him, but here, all the same. At the bar, nursing a beer.

And, no doubt, a snack bowl of heartache by the side.

"Hi Dave."

Dave turned to face the voice greeting him. "Hey, Kurt," he smiled amiably.

Kurt smiled back, although his expression was pained. "I heard about Blaine," he ventured. "How are you bearing up?"

Dave's face fell a little. "I'm coping, I guess," he shrugged. "I kinda expected us to run out of time once you turned up anyway, so I've been bracing myself for this. The moment he kissed you, our fate was sealed."

Kurt's face fell. "I'm sorry, Dave," he commiserated. "I wish things had turned out better for you." He truly did; he'd always hoped for better things where Dave was concerned.

_"You don't have to torture yourself over this."_

_"I'm not saying you have to come out tomorrow, but maybe soon the moment will arise when you can."_

_"You're gonna get through this. 'Cause I'm gonna help you. And so is everyone who loves you and accepts you for who you are. And if they can't accept that, then... screw 'em, right?"_

Kurt had always tried to assure Dave that _it gets better_, and for the most part, he'd seemed to have succeeded. Dave was out and comfortable in his own skin, and he'd seemed happy with Blaine. Happy with _guys_.

Except now he was here. Like this. Nothing about it seemed fair, and he hated it. It was the reason he'd sought out Dave to make sure he was coping.

"I won't lie, it kinda sucked to lose him to you," shrugged Dave. "But if you two belong together, then..."

"Wait, stop!" interrupted Kurt. "Dave, I'm... I'm not with him. I'm kinda seeing someone else. The kiss was... it was _stupid_," he grunted. "I'm kicking myself for allowing an attack of nostalgia to blind me like that."

Dave was blindsided. "Hold on," he spluttered. "Blaine left me for you, and you... said _no?!_"

Kurt suddenly realised he'd made a calamitous misstep. Dave had lost Blaine for no good reason. "Oh _god,_" he groaned. "Maybe it'd be better for the world at large if I just didn't say anything ever again."

As the shock subsided, it occurred to Dave that Kurt's availability was never the point - Blaine loved Kurt regardless, and the relationship would have ended either way. "No, it's... it's fine," he assured Kurt. "It was pretty much over whether he got you or not. You're not making things worse here, Kurt." Dave paused. "Well, not for _me_, at least," he shrugged, suddenly hit with a pang over Blaine's likely longing for Kurt. At that moment, he knew all too well how Blaine would be feeling, as he was familiar with not being able to be with the one you love.

Especially when he was standing here talking to Kurt. Those feelings, too, had never gone away.

"Well, I can't do much for Blaine," sighed Kurt, "he'll just have to get over me in his own time." He looked Dave up and down. "Sucks that he couldn't find it in him to appreciate you more," he lamented. "You two seemed good together."

"Well, it was good while it lasted, y'know?" sighed Dave. "And it's not like I'm gonna be alone for long," he added by way of reassurance. "There's a whole fuckin' _crowd_ready to step up to the plate."

Kurt's jaw dropped at the revelation. "I had no idea you were so sought after," he drawled in amazement.

"Oh, you bet," confirmed Dave. "It's almost getting to the point where people are putting 'knock boots with Dave Karofsky' on their bucket list," he added with a slight chuckle.

Kurt's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at this assertion. Dave Karofsky? Hot? _Wait, why would that come as such a shock?_

Kurt's reaction brought to mind an entirely different implication for Dave. An altogether more unsavory one. "...aaaaand now I sound like a massive whore," he cringed, mortified.

Kurt wouldn't hear of it, and leapt to Dave's defense. "Bullshit! It's not like you give yourself over to just anyone that asks, right?" he challenged. "I mean, if you're that _sought after_, that probably means you're pretty choosy," he pointed out.

The notion certainly wasn't lost on Dave, although he was surprised he hadn't considered it himself. "Well... oh, yeah, I guess that's true," he nodded eventually, smiling.

"It also implies you're one hell of a lay," noted Kurt impishly, cheerfully piling on the plaudits.

Plaudits regarding Dave's sexual prowess were one thing. Such plaudits coming from _Kurt Hummel_, however, were a shock he was completely unprepared for. "Wh... what? I... uh..." he spluttered, visibly flustered.

"Um. That was shockingly blunt of me, I'm sorry!" giggled Kurt, abashed at delivering such a naked compliment regarding - well, nakedness, in all probability.

Dave was still all over the place. "W-w-w... well... uh..." he stammered, suddenly incredibly shy about _anything_ sexual in Kurt's presence.

Kurt's reverie diminished somewhat in the face of Dave's shy demeanor. "Really, the last thing I wanted to do was make you uncomfortable," he confessed, still smiling but no longer quite as amused - and even that gave way to concern. "Are you, uh... okay?" he asked timidly.

Dave's alarm faded at Kurt's concern, and he managed to calm down a little. "I... I guess, because it's you pointing it out..." he explained.

Kurt couldn't suppress the burst of amusement at the idea. "Why, because I'm so pure and untouched?" he chuckled. "Hah! Trust me, I'm not the chaste, virginal little boy I was at McKinley," he grinned.

Another concept Dave struggled with. Kurt had always seemed far less sexual to Dave in his behavior - if not, perhaps, in his appearance. "Oh. Right. Um... right," mumbled Dave, unsure how to respond.

Kurt's suspicions flared up at once. "Okay, what part of this are you struggling to get your head round?" he demanded, his hilarity abating in the face of whatever struggle Dave was encountering.

"Um... the part that's you knowing I'm a good lay, I guess," shrugged Dave awkwardly. "I wasn't ever, like _ever_, ready for you to find that out."

"Oh. Okay," nodded Kurt, feeling quite deflated. A stunningly relevant memory came to him, however, that demanded an explanation. "Wait, does that mean I was right about your feelings for me, back in the day?" he asked eagerly.

Dave paused, wistfully recalling the fateful Valentine's Day he'd declared his love to Kurt. "No, you were dead wrong," he sighed. "It took me a while to move on, but... well, you never really forget your first love," he added, his face falling.

Kurt's expression mirrored Dave's. The last thing he wanted to do was make Dave feel miserable again. "Oh, Dave, I'm sorry," he groaned. "Looking back, that was pretty mean of me. How dare I have the temerity to tell you how you feel?" The point gained traction in Kurt's psyche, and he found himself struck by the cruelty of his behavior. "How fucking _dare_ I?" he spat, becoming agitated.

Dave immediately moved to calm Kurt's upset. "Kurt, it's okay!" he urged. "You were with Blaine, you didn't want me to have those feelings, of course you were gonna try to explain it all away."

Kurt remained unmollified. "That hardly makes it right, Dave," he grunted. "I'm really sorry I ever said that to you." He caught Dave's eye. "I just wish you hadn't had to go through the pain of rejection - I still remember how torn up you looked when I turned you down," he recalled sadly. It was a memory fresh in his mind, having played out a very similar scene recently with Walter.

"Yeah, that hurt," agreed Dave. "I should have known you were still with Blaine, though, it was my own stupid fault," he insisted, reluctant to let Kurt blame himself for the way things had unfolded.

Kurt, however, was eager enough to share the blame. "I still think I could have handled it better," he sighed. "I've not been able to go near butterscotch _anything_ ever since," he revealed reproachfully.

Dave was stunned. He'd made some parting comment about hoping Kurt enjoyed the chocolates he'd bought him, and how he favoured the butterscotch ones, but he'd never have guessed the comment would have left such an indelible imprint. "You remember that?" he gasped.

"I remember it all, Dave," he confirmed, his voice thickening slightly. "The cards, the gifts, the gorillagrams... god, you tried _so hard_," he groaned morosely.

"Too hard," refuted Dave. "I must have looked stupid."

"Never!" rebuked Kurt. "You nailed it, Dave. It was one of the most romantic things anyone's ever done for me."

This was the kind of unexpected plaudit Dave could hear every day from Kurt, and he basked in the compliment. "Really?" he smiled. "Thanks, Kurt!"

Dave's improved mood caused a corresponding upswing in Kurt's tune. "You're very welcome," he smiled. "In retrospect, it was adorable." He paused in reflection, remembering the week leading up to the day in which Dave had showered him with symbols of affection. "_You_ were adorable," he added.

It was almost too much for Dave. Admiring his behavior was one thing, but such a direct word of affection aimed at him directly tore his defenses down. "Thanks, Kurt," he gulped, struggling to maintain his composure. "That... that means a lot."

In Kurt's eyes, however, this was yet another misstep, and he criticized himself harshly. "Jesus, what's wrong with me?!" he growled, angry at his seemingly clodhopping behavior. "Why am I telling you _this_, _now_, when you're still raw from a break-up? Dammit, I always do this to you!" he lamented bitterly.

Dave had no idea what Kurt meant. "Do what to me? Kurt, what d'you mean?" he asked, his emotions steadying beneath his confusion.

"This!" explained Kurt remorsefully. "This, hurting you by accident, all the time!"

Dave was fine with it. _There are worse things a guy could do,_ he thought. "Better that than hurting you _deliberately_," he replied pointedly.

Kurt wasn't about to let Dave start torturing himself again. "No, Dave," he demanded. "You apologized for everything you did, and I've forgiven you. I've never apologized for any of the things I did to you," he explained, drawing a comparison.

It was lost on Dave. "Wh...? What _things_, exactly?" he spluttered in combined incredulity and amusement. He couldn't recall anything Kurt had done that would merit an apology.

Kurt had plenty. "Oh, lets start with 'chubby sweaty guy who'll go bald in his thirties', shall we?" he huffed, annoyed with himself for attacking Dave with such a bitchy putdown in the first place. He paused. "That _is_ what I said in the locker room that time, right?" he asked, uncertain if he'd recalled correctly.

"I think it was 'I don't dig on chubby boys who sweat too much, and are gonna be bald by the time they're thirty'," clarified Dave.

Kurt was crushed. "Oh _god_, you remember the exact words," he whimpered, crestfallen.

Dave moved quickly to quell Kurt's inflamed conscience. "I won't deny it hurt, Kurt, but it's not like it destroyed me or anything," he assured him.

"And what if it'd toppled you into an eating disorder?" challenged Kurt.

A guffaw escaped Dave before he could even hold it back. "C'mon, you're being melodramatic!" he grinned.

"I'm not, Dave!" insisted Kurt. "Words have power, you know that! Words almost killed you after that Valentine's Day, remember?" he recalled.

Dave couldn't deny Kurt's point. "Well... yeah, but you never did anything that hateful," he replied, comparing his own conduct.

"I did a whole bunch of things that _dangerous_," retaliated Kurt. "I blurted out 'you kissed me' on an open stairwell around other students. I hectored you to come out _at prom_. I _blackmailed_ you in that meeting with our dads and the principal."

"Kurt, it's past histo..." replied Dave, before a particular memory caught him off guard. "Wait. Wait, there's one thing that actually really stung at the time," he noted.

Kurt was immediately worried for the damage he'd done to Dave. "What?" he asked, troubled.

Dave revisited the moment carefully, determined not to be misunderstood. "After the Bully Whips spent all that time keeping an eye on you, you turned around that time outside French class and proclaimed that the reason you weren't getting picked on was because nobody cared," he contended.

Kurt was horrified at such a naive point of view. He'd been younger, and much less worldly wise, but it must have hurt Dave so much to hear it at the time. "Jesus _Christ,"_ he moaned, facepalming at his own youthful idiocy.

"That really _did_ hurt at the time," continued Dave. "I actually felt really proud of the fact that I was making up for all the crap I'd put you through, and I'd fooled myself into believing that you appreciated it and had forgiven me my past because of it," he concluded, inwardly kicking himself at his own naivete.

The revelation wounded Kurt: Dave had been right, even though Kurt had seemingly not said so. "I _did_ appreciate it, Dave!" he insisted emotionally. "You made me feel safe, and I'd convinced myself that having you around had caused this big change in everyone's opinions about people like me." He cast his mind back to the days spent being shadowed by Dave as a Bully Whip. "It actually felt good, having you there, watching over me," he admitted.

The admission caught Dave completely by surprise. "It did?" he asked, stunned.

"I should have said so at the time," sighed Kurt wistfully. A realization struck him out of the blue. "Oh god, I didn't even _thank_ you for that," he wailed, crestfallen.

"It's okay, Kurt!" exclaimed Dave, eager to assuage Kurt's evident guilt. "Knowing it mattered to you... that's enough," he explained gently, still relishing the glow he felt over the revelation that Kurt had felt so safe under his watch - that it had felt so _good_.

Kurt, however, remained perturbed. "It's _not enough_," he insisted bitterly. "I was _horrible_ to you. You deserved so much better, Dave."

Dave felt he was losing the battle for Kurt's calm, and redoubled his efforts. "Don't beat yourself up over it all, Kurt," he urged, shaking his head. "I've turned out just fine." It seemed to make little difference; Kurt stood before him, blinking back tears, clearly wracked with regret. Dave tried to get to the root of Kurt's self-condemnation; there had to be a cause for all this.

However, he had no ideas at all. It just didn't make any sense. Yes, feel bad about your perceived wrongdoings, but to this degree? And even when you didn't realise you were doing them at the time?

Something didn't add up. As much as he didn't want to, Dave felt he had to ask Kurt outright. "Why does it matter so much to you, anyway?" he asked, as gently as he could.

Kurt's emotions briefly stabilized at the question. He paused. "I..." he began, then fell silent. He, too, found himself suddenly confused about exactly _why_ he was so torn up about what he considered his wrongdoings against Dave.

In the absence of an explanation, and eager to put Kurt's mind at rest, Dave offered him all the assurances he had. "Hey, if it helps, you should know I bear you no ill will over it," he insisted. "It _is_ okay, Kurt," he added, soothingly.

Kurt was still wracking his brains to understand why Dave's wellbeing was so important. All the while, he edged closer to unraveling, threatening to come apart before he'd even worked out what was doing it to him. Why was he buckling like this? Dave was _better_ now. He was happy. So happy.

He was centered. At ease. He was... he was _whole_.

Dave placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder, and looked him directly in the eye. "And I forgive you," he assured him.

It was as if it took away the one thing left to hold Kurt's stability in place. Something within Kurt broke: to his own alarm, he found himself bursting into tears.

Dave was horrified. How had he done this to Kurt? What the fuck had he done so _wrong_ that he was in this state? He thought he was giving Kurt the assurances he needed that Dave was okay now, but it had backfired in shocking form. "Kurt? What did...? Oh god..." he babbled, almost panic-stricken.

In the absence of any better ideas, he threw his arms around Kurt in a bracing hug. Kurt, in return, clung to Dave like he was drowning, sobbing openly. Why was he bawling his head off? Why couldn't he even fucking _stop_?

The resultant spectacle drew the attention of, as luck would have it, one of Dave's exes - in this case, Nelson, the first one to spot him at the restaurant recently. "Dave, what's up?" he asked, concerned for him and the slender stranger in floods of tears in his arms.

Dave gathered his wits. "Uh... long story," he replied. "We've, uh... kinda got a lot of history and we're working through it." His focus was Kurt right now, but he wasn't about to simply blank everyone.

Nelson nodded in understanding. He regarded Kurt briefly, and recalled Dave's description of him from a conversation a long while back. "Is that...?" he began, before mouthing Kurt's name silently.

"Yeah," mouthed Dave in response.

A look of understanding, mingled with hope, crept over Nelson's face. "I'll, uh, leave you to it," he said, eager to leave Dave and Kurt to whatever situation they were in. "Good luck," he mouthed to Dave, offering him a thumbs-up.

Dave nodded, still somewhat shellshocked by it all. _Man, I could really use some right now,_ thought Dave, his arms still wrapped around Kurt, who was still sobbing into Dave's shoulder. He had no idea how to solve this.

He barely even had any idea why it was happening in the first place.


	2. Fire From The Embers

_**Story**__: Raking Over The Coals  
__**Chapter**__: Fire From The Embers  
__**Author**__: Liam the lemming  
__**Rating**__: T (for the few uses of expletives)  
__**Warnings**__: a few mild expletives. Um. I hope you like plot? :)  
__**Word count**__: 2322  
__**Disclaimer**__: I don't own Glee or anything related to it.  
__**Chapter summary**__: Liberated from their combined baggage, Kurt and Dave are able to see each other in a different light._

_A/N: Um. Is there such a thing as a trigger warning for fluff? *cough* :}_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Fire From The Embers**

"You feeling better?"

Kurt had recovered from his unexpected breakdown, and he and Dave were sitting at the bar, recovering from the shock of it all. "I uh... I am, actually," he chuckled. "Never underestimate the restorative power of a good cry," he grinned.

Dave's relief was palpable; seeing Kurt burst into tears from seemingly nothing at all had come as a huge shock, and wracked his conscience yet again as he feared he'd done something to hurt him. And yet... all he'd done was give Kurt his _forgiveness_, of all things. Why would that hurt him?

In any case, he seemed better now. Dave took great comfort from that. "I'll bear that in mind," he grinned. "So how do you feel?"

Kurt pondered the question briefly. "I feel... _relieved_, actually," he declared finally.

"Relieved?"

"Yeah. Strangely unburdened, you know?"

"What, just because I said I forgive you?"

Kurt had to admit, Dave made a really good point. "Funny how it means that much to me," he mused quietly.

"Yeah, that is weird," agreed Dave.

Kurt continued his efforts to make sense of the way he felt. "It's like... I dunno, it's kinda like I'm seeing you for the first time," he ventured, "because the baggage of our combined history is gone now."

Dave fell briefly silent. It was a blinding moment of insight; he hadn't considered that Kurt might be holding on to baggage too. "Wow," he drawled, betraying his amazement.

"How about you?" asked Kurt. "You feel any different now our issues are dealt with?"

"Not really," mused Dave. "I guess I've always seen the real you."

He didn't mean it to sound the way it did. The way it sounded, however, was the way he felt. "Oh yeah, the... the way you... feel," noted Kurt, his response halted not by any sense of awkwardness over Dave's feelings, but a sudden note of...

_Hang on a second..._

Dave mistook Kurt's faltering tone as one of discomfort. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't bring it up," he apologized, urgently backpedaling as though he could somehow unsay the point.

"No, you should!" replied Kurt eagerly. "You really..." He found himself gazing into Dave's eyes, as though searching for something. "...really... should," he drawled.

_Oh. **Oh.** Wow, that's..._

The sight of Kurt seemingly trying to lose himself in Dave's eyes veered Dave's attention away from everything else. "...Kurt?" he murmured gently, gazing right back, knowing it was dangerous to let himself go like this but relishing the moment so much - a moment he never expected to experience - that he was willing to pay for it later.

All too soon, Kurt snapped out of the daze he'd fallen into. "...I have to go!" he blurted urgently.

Dave was slightly stricken; he was hoping the moment would last at least a while longer than however long it would have anyway. "...Oh. O-okay," he stammered, attempting to rein in his emotions to spare Kurt any further distress.

"I'll be back, though," Kurt assured him. "I just need to see Walter."

Dave was still a little shellshocked, and the mention of Walter's name was the splash of cold water he needed to shake it off. "Oh. Yeah. Your, uh... the guy you're seeing," he noted, steering toward the term "boyfriend" and then veering wildly away knowing they'd only been seeing each other for a few weeks.

"Yeah, I need to end it with him."

Dave nodded, and then did an immediate double take. "Wait, _what?!"_ he yelped.

Kurt hurriedly explained his plans. "I can't kiss you while I'm with him, can I?" he continued. "I already made that mistake with Blaine, I'm not doing it again."

Dave's bewilderment deepened at an astonishing pace. "...Kiss me?!" he cried.

_Oh, shit. Spoilers._ Kurt paused a moment to consider the situation; he should have known Dave wasn't expecting this, and wondered what was the best way to proceed. Finally, he looked Dave in the eye. "Yes, Dave," he replied determinedly. "Kiss you."

Dave struggled to rein in his joy; his curiosity helped. "Not that I wanna jinx this or anything," he grinned, "but where the hell did that come from?"

"From seeing you," replied Kurt, fully dropping his guard. He wanted Dave to truly understand how he felt, and why. "Really, truly seeing you. No baggage, no history, no issues. Just you. And you know what I see?"

Dave was already thrilled. "Me, apparently," he beamed, eyes twinkling with glee. "But please, go on."

Kurt flicked up an eyebrow at Dave's change in attitude. "I'm a little worried this might inflate your ego to bursting point," he snarked, drawing a hearty chuckle from Dave, "but screw it," he smiled. He looked Dave in the eyes and concentrated. "Here's what I see, Dave - a gorgeous, beefy, strong, smart, adorable, incredibly romantic guy with a smile I could lose myself in and eyes I could stare into for hours."

The compliments reduced Dave's beaming grin to a delighted smile.

"A guy who's gone through all kinds of crap in his adolescence and come through it with remarkable strength, sensitivity, bravery and determination." Dave's smile gave way to an expression of awestruck devotion.

"Someone who doesn't let the pain of a break-up get him down because he has the optimism to see a future ahead of him where he'll find someone else."

Dave was now agape. Kurt really _did_ see him - perhaps better than he saw himself. "Ho...ly... _shit_," he drawled in shock and awe.

Kurt wasn't done yet. "And beyond all that, I see the guy who's loved me since..." Kurt paused in recollection. There was a missing piece to the puzzle. "Wait. How long _have_ you loved me?" he asked. "It's been at least since that Valentine's Day, but... was there anything before then? Was it that time we first bumped into each other here?"

It was Dave's turn to drop a surprise into the conversation. "Sophomore year," he revealed.

The shock announcement knocked Kurt for six. "_What?!_" he yelped. If any doubts remained that Dave loved him, this annihilated them: he'd loved Kurt since _sophomore year?!_

Dave nodded, recalling the moment with a touch of fond nostalgia. "That day you wore... was it a Lady Gaga outfit? All silver, with the wig?" he asked. Kurt nodded in recollection, still dumbstruck. "The sheer balls of it just knocked me sideways. It just _screamed_ 'I don't give a shit what you assholes think, and you can't stop me doing whatever the fuck I want'. It was intoxicating. I _longed_ to be that brave."

"Oh my god," murmured Kurt dreamily. It all sounded intoxicatingly romantic. Kurt's desire to fall into Dave's arms escalated... and yet, one question held him back. "But... if you loved me, why pick on me?" he asked.

Dave bowed his head in shame. "Because I was a moron who thought that I'd lose interest in you if I could stop you being so... _you_," he confessed. "It never worked - every time I picked on you I felt like crying," he added, his voice thickening at the pain of the memory.

And that was it. Kurt's heart was now in Dave's hands - he didn't just ache to be with Dave, he ached _for_ him.

"Oh Dave, no," he whimpered, throwing his arms around Dave in a tight hug. "No wonder you broke down in front of me that day. The guilt must have been crippling you," he observed, his own throat tightening at the notion that Dave had suffered so much.

"It was, it really was," gulped Dave. "When you understood how bad I felt about it all, though, it helped a lot." He smiled sweetly at Kurt. "I'll always consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to have your forgiveness," he sighed happily.

Kurt gazed mistily at Dave. "You're gonna get so much more than that, Dave, I promise you," he breathed tenderly.

An unexpected image flashed through Dave's mind. It blindsided Dave, and he blushed crimson. "Oh my _god_, Kurt...!" he exclaimed.

The alternate meaning almost immediate occurred to Kurt, and he couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't mean _that!"_ he chortled. Then he paused for a moment. "...Although, yeah, I guess it's true all the same," he admitted with a giggle. He paused again as another thought came to him, and he looked Dave up and down. Hungrily. "And it seems I'll be getting a lot more too," he mused idly.

Dave burst into a fit of giggles. _Kurt thinks I'm hot. Kurt thinks I'm sexy oh my GOD this is amazing._

Kurt chuckled inwardly at Dave's reaction. He shook it off quickly, though, as he had stuff to do - and he didn't want to have to wait a moment longer. "So. I'll go end things with Walter, come back here... and you can decide where our first date's gonna be," he beamed.

Dave's face lit up at the notion. "Holy shit. I'll actually be going on a date with _Kurt Hummel_. It just hit me!" he cried excitedly.

Another of Dave's exes overheard the exchange, and his curiosity was piqued. He recognized the name. "Sorry for butting in, but... Dave, did you just mention Kurt?" he asked politely.

"Uh, yeah, I'm Kurt," explained Kurt.

Dave hurriedly attempted an introduction to be polite. He hoped his past love life wouldn't throw a spanner in the works. "Yeah, Kurt, this is Ma..."

Matt was too quick for Dave. "You're _Kurt Hummel?_" he asked eagerly. He'd clearly heard of Kurt somehow.

And he wasn't alone. "Wait, that's not _the_ Kurt, is it?" piped up Jeremy, yet another of Dave's exes. Evidently word of Kurt had spread.

Dave tried to hurry the impromptu introductions along. "Kurt? Matt, Jeremy," he said, pointing to each in turn and trying not to get flustered. Again.

Kurt had lost his bearings slightly. "Wait, what's going on here? Dave?" he asked, still trying to work out how these two people he'd never met knew his name.

Dave decided honesty was the best policy. "Uh... I might have mentioned you to a few guys. I tend to talk a little about you when I'm a little drunk," he winced culpably. Kurt understood at once, and couldn't help but chuckle at Dave's honesty and evident adoration of Kurt all this time.

"He never _shuts up_ about you when he's drunk!" guffawed Jeremy, to Dave's mild annoyance and major embarrassment. Kurt couldn't help but laugh.

"Dude!" he grunted.

Matt suddenly recalled a particular point of the overheard conversation. "Dave, did you just mention a _date?"_ he asked.

"Uh..." Dave's expression blossomed into a huge grin. "...yeah?" he admitted shyly.

Nelson had been listening in, partly to make sure everything was okay after Kurt's unexpected unraveling, but mostly to find out how Kurt actually felt about Dave. He got the feeling he'd hit the jackpot. "With Kurt? For real?" he asked eagerly.

Others overheard the discussion and were now chiming in. "You're shitting me?" blurted Jake. "Dave's scored a date with Kurt? _That Kurt?"_

"Fuck me!" cried Charlie. "Dave, buddy, is this for real? Is that him?" he asked excitedly, before drinking in the sight of the gorgeous young man standing next to Dave. "...Oh my _god_, he's pretty," he gasped.

By now, Kurt was cackling heartily at the absurdity of it all. "Yes, it's me!" he chortled to the fascinated crowd. "Dave, how many people here actually know about me?" he asked, equally fascinated.

"Pretty much all of us!" guffawed Matt.

Dave's hand had retreated to the back of his neck. "...yyyyeah, I probably told pretty much everyone in the bar," he winced. The admission sent Kurt into a laughing fit - Dave had been caught out fangirling over Kurt to such a degree that everyone present knew of him. Meanwhile, word had started to spread, and the occasional shrieks of "WHAT!" and "OH MY GOD" permeated the ensuing rumble of excited conversation.

Kurt decided to give them the answers they clearly sought. "HEY!" he barked. Silence fell at once as everyone turned to him. "Just to confirm to you all - yes, I'm _that Kurt,"_ he giggled, "and yes, I'm gonna start seeing Dave this..." He turned to Dave. "Saturday?" he suggested.

"Saturday's perfect," beamed Dave.

"This Saturday!" proclaimed Kurt triumphantly. A massive cheer filled the room, soon subsiding to chants of "YO-GI! YO-GI! YO-GI!", led mostly by Dave's ex-boyfriends, all delighted to see him finally getting together with his beloved Kurt.

"Yeah, I probably should have warned you," conceded Dave, as Kurt stood agog at the sheer breadth of support for the two boys, "they ship it _so_ hard," he pointed out with a chuckle.

"They're not the only ones!" chortled Kurt in delight, wrapping Dave in another huge hug before preparing to head off to sort things out with Walter. "You wait for me here, alright?"

"You bet!" smiled Dave. The smile fell from his face immediately as a memory surfaced, and he did a double take. "Wait, did you just...?!" he spluttered to Kurt.

Kurt nodded with a wink and a mischievous grin, and left as Dave burst out laughing. He had until Kurt came back to the bar to plan their first date - and he had an army of exes and friends to help him. One thing was certain - there'd definitely be karaoke.

And a surprise duet.


End file.
